The Louisville Cardinals and quarterback Lamar Jackson try to
continue on their march to the college football playoff when they take
on the Houston Cougars Thursday night. Photo by John Sommers II /UPI

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HOUSTON -- The carnage that Louisville needed
to make inroads in the College Football Playoff picture unfolded during
this past chaotic weekend. Suddenly, the ball is in the Cardinals' court
with an opportunity to hold serve.

With three of the top four teams in the CFP
rankings falling on Saturday -- Clemson, Michigan and Washington, with
the Tigers and Wolverines losing to unranked teams - the door swung open
for the Cardinals to secure a coveted spot in the national semifinals.
Louisville, which is 9-1 and ranked No. 3 in this week's Associated
Press poll, needed a 34-point fourth quarter to subdue stubborn Wake
Forest, but in doing so secured its highest ranking ever.

And now, with two games remaining in their
regular season, including a critical Thursday night showdown against
Houston (8-2) at Houston's TDECU Stadium, the Cardinals have a viable
path to a national championship. Well, at least one less treacherous
than the road that faced Louisville following its 42-36 loss at Clemson
on Oct. 1.

"For our players they just have to understand
that we need to go out and play well and play the type of football that
we're capable of playing," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino
said. "Really that's what we need to do our last two games. Whatever
happens happens; we can't control any of that. We've just got to go play
the way we're capable of playing.

"Obviously we know it's on national TV;
nobody else is playing. Everybody will be watching it. But those are the
types of games we like, something that's fun as a team, something that
we've always felt has helped us in recruiting. And we are used to
playing midweek games."

The Cardinals will play their fourth
non-Saturday game this week. Managing a schedule that undermines the
routine of weekly preparation requires both mental and physical
flexibility, but at this stage of the season Louisville has endured the
drama and sidestepped the pitfalls that befell Clemson, Michigan and
Washington.

Following the loss to Clemson and prior to
their rally against the Demon Deacons, the Cardinals survived close
calls against Duke and Virginia. Against lesser foes their defense has
thrived, but when challenged by elite offenses Louisville has wavered.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson remains a Heisman Trophy frontrunner, yet against Wake Forest he mustered just one touchdown, and that came with 4:05 left to play.

Dynamic Houston senior quarterback Greg Ward
Jr. is a handful under normal circumstances. Having to prepare for the
Cougars' high-scoring offense on a short week only ramps up the
potential for Louisville to stumble like so many others have.

"We've had full steam ahead for this game,"
Petrino said. "We play 7 o'clock on a Saturday night then again on
Thursday, that's a short turnaround for our players and our coaches. It
required us to do some work last week on Houston.

"Usually on Fridays I get to let our coaches
take their kids to school and then come in here later on Friday morning.
This week we were in the office at 7 a.m. working on Houston. Usually
they get to spend some time Saturday morning. We were up at 7 o'clock
Saturday morning working on Houston. We had to adjust schedules.
Probably don't know a whole lot what's going on in the world besides
getting ready for the Houston game."

Following a 5-0 start and their climb to No. 6
in the national polls, Houston started eying the Louisville game for
its potential to thrust the Cougars into the CFP conversation. But
Houston followed with a three-game lull that not only snuffed those
hopes, but also put in peril a shot to win an American Athletic
Conference title.

Houston followed a road loss to Navy with a
white-knuckle home win over Tulsa and a shocking defeat against middling
SMU. Given those setbacks, the Cougars lack the sizzle they had prior
to Navy stunning them and sending their season into a tailspin.

"This is extra anticipation and extra
excitement knowing who's coming into town, there's no hiding from that,"
Cougars coach Tom Herman said. "But, at the same time, it's business as
usual. The way we prepare is not going to change. The way we go about
our business minute-to-minute and day-by-day, from a preparation
standpoint is business as usual. I think our guys are excited to go
against a top five team such as Louisville."